Friday, February 19, 2016

13 Months!!!

So.....yesterday I hit 13 months!!! Man, time is just flying by. It is
crazy to think that a year ago, I was getting ready to head out of the MTC to
come here. A lot has happened since then:)

It is great to hear that you are all keeping so busy. It's a good way to
stay out of trouble. Just fill all of your time doing good things.
Mom....teaching the gospel is the besst thing in the world. Weather it is to
youth, or to people that you don't even know. It brings peace to the soul and
really strengthens your testimony.

I love music. Every morning I wake up to beautiful music that just helps me
prepare for the day. And every night when we get home, we put it on again. It
really helps me relax after a hard, and stressful day. I like to listen to it as
I am going to bed. It helps me have a clear mind and to sleep well.

This week was awesome, but very stressful at the same time. I felt like a
homeless missionary this week. I got to travel a lot. On Tuesday afternoon, my
companion and I traveled to Coatza. We worked the afternoon with the Zone
Leaders of Puerto, and then stayed the night with them. On Wednesday we got up
at 3:30 to take a 4:30 bus to Villahermosa for Mission Leadership Council. We
got to go to the Temple!!!! I LOVE the Temple. I was able to get some answers
that I was looking for. Personal, and for our zone. We didn't get to spend a
whole lot of time in the temple, but in that short time I recei
ved a lot of
revelation. We then headed back to the mission offices, and had our
council.

We talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As missionaries we
have improved a lot in teaching repentance and the Atonement to our
investigators, but what we talked about is if we are really applying it in our
lives. President said ''Right now, we are acting like missionaries just waiting
out the rest of our time. What we lack as a mission is repentance''. We talking
about how real repentance requires feeling. Are we really feeling for the things
that we are lacking every day? Not only focusing on the things that we are doing
wrong, but the things that we are only doing half effort. That put me to
thinking. A lot of times when I don't meet my daily goals, I think..''Oh
well....I'll get it tomorrow''. Instead of really feeling bad that I didn't
complete with what the Lord asked of me for the day. I have been applying that,
and the atonement has taken a new meaning in my life. It is amazing what you can
feel, repenting from something simple like not doing all of my contacts. It
really creates a desire to do even better and not fail in the very small
things.

During the meeting, Sister Morales asked me to give a special musical
number at towards the end. I played my arrangement of ''Sweet hour of Prayer'' on
the piano. It was really cool.

I got to see Elder Lopez during the meeting (he is a zone leader now). He
is the one I had problems with in Frontera. He came up to me afterwards, and
asked forgiveness for the problems that we had together. I also asked for
forgiveness from him, and we gave each other a big hug. Really, I've missed him,
and I feel like he is going to be a lifelong friend. He is really a great
guy.

After council, I stayed in Villa with Elder Thaller (from my generation).
We worked with the Assistants. I went out to work with Elder Johnson. He is a
really cool guy. He is from Idaho, and only has two transfers more than me. We
had a really great time.

"Mexican Parking"

We were out looking for a family that he had an appointment with. That fell
through, and so we were just walking around looking for people to teach. We
reached a street corner and paused for a minute, when I felt to ask him about
some people that we talked with the last time I was with him. It turns out that
we were right around the corner from them. We went, and visiting there was
another family of four that accepted baptism. It was really cool. Another witness
that the Spirit is always watching out for us, and if we listen, will guide us
to where we need to be, when we need to be there.

I stayed the night with Elder Thaller in Villa. In the morning, we went to
immigration to renew our visas. We have been living illegally for the past month
because our visas expired at the beginning of January. We went downtown in a
Combie and had to sign a couple papers, and they took our fingerprints. We
finished at about noon, and raced to the bus station to try to get back to our
areas by nighttime. We were on that bus for six hours! On the bus, Elder
Engamann (Elder in my Zone) called me and told me that his investigator that was
supposed to get baptized on Saturday didn't want to anymore. So...we got to
Coatza, and I jumped on another bus to Las Chuapas. Was on that bus for another
hour and a half. It was a long bus day. Almost eight hours traveling on a
bus.

On the Bus

When I got to Las Chuapas I went with Elder Engamann to visit his
investigator. We had a really cool lesson using the book of Mormon. He felt the
Spirit, and then we prayed with him. He asked if he needed to get baptized and
he got an answer YES. I did his interview and he got baptized on Saturday. It
was awesome. I spent the rest of the night with Elder Engamann, and stayed at
his house.

On Friday morning we traveled back to Agua Dulce early to be on time to
zone class. I taught zone class and it was really fun. We did several activities
to help us in our teaching situations, and we practiced using the Book of Mormon
to help our investigators have a converting experience.

Saturday, we found a family with eight kids within the ages of 8 and 14. It
is a huge family. Tons of cousins that live together. We had an awesome lesson
with them. We will see how they progress.

We are really struggling in our area right now. It is a little frustrating
because the other area in Agua Dulce is baptizing every week right now. We are
struggling just to find people that will listen to us, and they have people
showing up at church asking to be baptized. It is very hard because my companion
and I are doing everything we can, and are being obedient, and we aren't having
success. While the other Elders aren't being very obedient, and are baptizing
like crazy. Last night, I was watching the teaching videos and one came on about
patience that I really needed. It talked about how it is very easy to see the
fun that others are having, and to give up on the good that you are doing in
order to participate with them. But, it is very important to hold strong,
because the true happiness comes after the trials. After we have proved that we
really want it.

Right now the temptation to slack off has been big, because those that are
slacking are baptizing. But after the test, if we hold true, comes the real
blessings. My companion and I are really praying for those blessings right now.
So....all of you out there that are going through a hard time right now, HOLD
ON. Stay true, and have faith in Jesus Christ. Things will get better, and if
you hold true, there are a ton of blessings waiting for you. Ether 12:27

Anyways, this week has been super awesome. Lots of revelation and help from
my Heavenly Father.

I Love you all and wish you all another awesome week.

Love,

Elder Cavenee

P.S. I would love to get letters from anyone and everyone for my birthday:)
Just to hear how you all are:)